Students and pro-Palestinian supporters hold a rally at New York University campus, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in New York May 3, 2024. ― Reuters picNEW YORK, May 4 ― Ahead of the University of Michigan's commencement today, the school has trained staff volunteers in how to mitigate disruptions: a change from the usual duties of guiding guests around campus and showing them to their seats.
Some university leaders have called in riot police wielding batons and flash-bang grenades to disperse and arrest hundreds of protesters, citing a paramount need for campus safety, even as civil rights groups have decried such tactics as unnecessarily violent violations of free speech.The anti-war protests have been staged in response to Israel's offensive in Gaza, which it launched after a Hamas attack on October 7 that Israel says killed 1,200 people.
University of Minnesota Interim President Jeff Ettinger announced on Thursday that protesters had agreed to end their encampment in exchange for an opportunity to discuss divestment with the Board of Regents and a promise that the school will not pursue disciplinary action against them. The training instructed volunteers to issue two verbal warnings to hecklers, and then have public safety and security officers escort them from the event if they persist.